Over 100 shops razed in Yaba market midnight fire

• Raging inferno at Owode Onirin, Ebutte Metta

Not less than 94 shops out of 201 in the Yaba Shopping Complex was destroyed by fire on Sunday.

Metro gathered that the fire started from one of the shops at the rear side of the complex, leaving wear, shoes, bags burnt.

Owners, it was gathered, were, however, alerted and came on time to salvage some of their wares, while the presence of the police prevented lurking miscreants from looting the products. No life was lost to the incident.

According to the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), the agency received a distress call at about 12.45 a.m. regarding a fire incident of a storey building shopping complex opposite Presbyterian Church, Yaba.

This, it was learnt, prompted the agency’s emergency response team (ERT) to the incident’s scene alongside the Lagos State Fire Service and the Nigeria Police.

A total of 117 shops were salvaged by the ERT, which included Fire Service from Ilupeju and Alausa Fire Station.

General Manager, LASEMA, Mr Adesina Tiamiyu, noted that the fire outbreak was exacerbated by highly inflamable materials in the shops, as well as air conditioners and generators with fuel in the market, caused by occasional explosions as the fire razed the shops.

He  said emergency responders also had  problem of accessibility to some of the shops due to iron bars used as security doors of the shops.

He, however, advised market owners to ensure that their members were continuously sensitised on fire prevention and safety, as well as ensuring that electrical appliances were put off after the close of business everyday, so as to avoid incident such as this.

In another fire incident in the early hours of Sunday morning at No. 83 Abeokuta Street, Ebute Metta, Lagos State,  the Lagos State Fire Service also responded  promptly, as there was the immediate drafting of the agency’s ERT to the scene of the incident.

According to investigation carried out by the agency’s  ERT, fire started from one of the rooms in a three-beroom flat of the first floor of the two- storey building.

No life was lost and two male adults who sustained minor injuries were immediately treated by LASEMA medical team.